“Today's imprisonment once again marks the lack of any real commitment from Bahrain's government to be held accountable and deliver true justice for victims of human rights violations,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director.
"Despite the government’s claims that the medics committed a criminal offence, Amnesty International believes they have been jailed solely for peacefully exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly and therefore they should be immediately and unconditionally released.”

“With today’s verdict, the Bahraini government has shown once more it is not serious about human rights and accountability for past violations,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Deputy Programme Director.

“The convictions against these doctors and nurses must be quashed immediately and all charges against them relating to their role in last year’s pro-reform demonstrations must be dropped.”

PHR emphatically deplores the imprisonment today of six Bahraini medical professionals convicted as a result of caring for injured protesters last year.

“It’s a black day for Bahrain when it imprisons physicians and other medical professionals whose only ‘crime’ was to carry out their ethical duty to care for sick and wounded people,” said Richard Sollom, PHR’s deputy director. “Sadly, these medics have now joined the ranks of other prisoners of conscience unjustly locked up in Bahrain and elsewhere around the world.”

“Today was another moment of truth for the Bahrain regime, one it again failed miserably,” said Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley, who was in one of the appeal court hearings with the medics in March 2012. “These medics are going to prison for treating the injured and for telling the world about the regime’s crackdown. This isn’t the kind of progress that the Kingdom keeps promising the world is under way.”